INTRODUCTION (9) (Mukaddime)

In Modern English

In this darüşşifa (hospital) persons such as "Reşîdeddîn Lokmân Harezmî," "Bedreddîn Mahmûd Çelebi" and "Nefîseddîn Mehmed Çelebi" won fame as the physicians of their ages. Since it was famous that the blessed breath of one of the great righteous, "eş-Şeyh Sâlih el-Halvetî," the Sheikh of the Şamlar, was a healing elixir for the insane, he died around 1076 [1665-66] as the "Sheikh of the Darüşşifa." His tomb is inside the darüşşifa. Although the late "Mehmed Rif'at Efendi," author of the Lugât-ı Târîhiyye ve Coğrâfiyye, wrote that this darüşşifa was once a puthane (idol temple) and later converted into a hospital, and "Mustafa Vâzıh Efendi" that it was built by "Mu'îneddîn Süleyman Pervâne Bey," it is understood that neither read the Arabic inscription carved over its door. While it is plainly evident from the manner of its construction and the writings on it that this darüşşifa is among the works of Islam, nothing can be as strange as claiming that it was once an idol temple.

For if there had been an idol temple in Amasya, it would undoubtedly have been built in the time of the idolaters, that is, in the first ages before the birth of His Excellency Jesus. Yet while the works of the first ages in Amasya remain only six or seven meters beneath the earth, that this darüşşifa is seen above ground without being buried even a meter shows that it is not among the works of the first ages. Until recently its waqfs, its trustee, clerks, collectors, chainers, gatekeepers, its physician, students, apothecary, launderer, cook and nuktacı were known. Now it has become a depot for timber merchants. On the south side of this darüşşifa "Yâkût Paşa" in 816 [1413-14] had a lodge, a mescit beside it and a guesthouse built and arranged their waqfs. East of this mescit is the "Çöplüce Madrasa"; it will be told shortly together with its lodge.

53- "Ya'kûb Paşa (Quarter)": This is the name of the quarter around the Aşağı Pîrler. It is bounded in the east by Savakça, in the west by Gümüşlüzâde, in the north by Mehmed Paşa quarters and in the south by the Pîr İlyâs Cemetery. Here "Ya'kûb Paşa," one of the Ottoman emirs, had built within a masonry courtyard wall a mosque, a minaret beside it, on its two sides the Çilehane, that is, a Halvetî lodge, in front a lecture hall and also a sheikh's room, and arranged their waqfs in 815 [1412-13].

In its waqf deed the death of His Excellency "Pîr İlyâs," his halife, the mufti of men and jinn, the most exalted şeyhülislam "Mevlânâ Pîr Celâleddîn Abdurrahmân," and His Majesty "Çelebi Sultân Mehmed Hân son of Bâyezîd Hân" are mentioned; it is written that these buildings were built for this "Pîr Abdurrahmân Çelebi," and the trusteeship is stipulated for "Mevlânâ eş-Şeyhu'l-Ecell Şemseddîn Mehmed el-Buhârî," one of the halifes of the said saint, and his children. For this reason it is certain that this great group of buildings was completed in 815. The rest of the lodge's condition will be told in the relevant section.

Because on the west side of this "Ya'kûb Paşa Complex" there is the lodge of "Şemseddîn Mehmed el-Kırtâsî," famous as "Çevikçi Baba," this side became famous by the name "Çevikçe," and the "Ya'kûb Paşa" side by the name "Çilehane." West of the "Çilehane" is the "Şeyh Ya'kûb Efendi Lodge," famous as the "Kuşbaz Tekkesi"; the "eş-Şeyh Abdullah Efendi Lodge" is at the westernmost end of the "Pîr İlyâs Cemetery."

These are the fifty-three quarters famous within the borders of the city of Amasya. Outside the city there are two more quarters, which are also counted part of the city of Amasya.

1- "Karasenir Quarter": It is in the southwest of Amasya, at a distance of about eleven kilometers. Since this place was the "Emîr Seyfeddîn Kara Sungur Farm," it was first called "Kara Sungur Çiftliği," then, shortened and corrupted, with deaf kef and fatha on the sin, "Karasenir." In this quarter there are the mosque and school of "Kara Sungur Bey." Today this mosque and school are administered by the people's aid. The former commander of the Hejaz, the mirliva (brigadier general) "Hasan Paşa," is of this quarter.

2- "Kayabaşı Quarter": It is south of the "Karasenir Quarter" and appears as a triangular island between the Yeşilırmak and the "Çekerek River." Since this place was the farm of "Emîr Kayabay," it was recorded under the name "Kayabay Çiftliği" and later, corrupted, called "Kayabaşı." A pleasant locality of this quarter on the river bank is called "Pehlevân." "Emîr Şücâ'eddîn Pehlevân Bey" was the son of this "Kayabay," and his living there was the reason this name was given. "Kayalı Ahmed Paşa," of the "Pehlevânzâdes," in 1068 [1657-58] had a mosque, school and lecture hall built in the locality known by the name "Pehlevân" and arranged their waqfs. The family of this person is in general called "Kayalızâdes." Of these "Ali Paşa" and "es-Seyyid Kâşif Ömer Paşa" were among the statesmen and emirs. They became [trustees] of their grandfathers' waqfs.

Between these two quarters there is a pleasant hill called "Serçoban." The "Damlar Village" on the east side of this hill is counted part of the "Karasenir Quarter." The "Karasenir" and "Kayabaşı" quarters have the appearance of flourishing villages, and their vineyards, melon gardens, butter, yogurt, cheese and other agricultural products are much admired. In particular the "Kayabaşı" watermelons have no equal. The conduct, manner and livelihood seen in these quarters are exceedingly simple and pure, and the way of the old Turkmens continues.

Her devresi bir silsile-i aşk u cünûndur
Her bir deresi dolmuş onun eşk ile hûndur
Her gûşesi bin medfen-i erbâb-ı fünûndur
Aktâra bütün münteşir ezkâr-ı Amasya

(Meaning: Every circuit of it is a chain of love and madness; every one of its streams is filled with tears and blood; every corner of it is the burial place of a thousand people of learning; the mention of Amasya has spread to all lands.)

Every side of Amasya is surrounded and covered by a mountain range; it is famous as a place of strolling for people of love and passion, and on every side there is the station of a meczub-ı İlâhî (a person carried away by love of God). For example in the north gorge there are the stations of "Tekirdağlı Baba," in the south gorge of "Has Baba," on the east side of "Abdurrahmân Baba," and on the west side of "Memi Dede." Inside Amasya there are three streams: the first is the "Savakça Stream," the second the "Çakallar Stream," the third the "Karakaya Stream." The most fearsome of these streams is the "Çakallar Stream," which descends to the river from "Selağzı." This stream has been the cause of very many deadly accidents.

After the violent rain that fell in 1271 [1854-55], a terrible flood came down, destroying the bridges and houses over it and sweeping them away; it left one of the stones, the size of a small dome, on the dome of the Sinan Hamamı west of "Selağzı," and poured very many animals, carts, timber and people into the river.

The stone left on top of the bathhouse could be brought down by many people only with great effort and difficulty. This bathhouse was built and endowed in 917 [1511-12] by Sinan Paşa, former beylerbeyi of Sivas, one of the freedmen of Hızır Paşa. Because the mouth of this stream coincides with the highway over the river, its danger was noted as constant; in 1325 [1907-08] the mutasarrıf of Amasya "Ahmed Cevdet Bey" had a tunnel built under the highway and thus separated the mouth of the stream from the highway.

As is the custom continuing in most Islamic cities, in every corner of Amasya very many saints, scholars, righteous persons and sheikhs are buried, and its surroundings are full of cemeteries. Since in distinguished localities there are the personal graves of viziers, emirs and famous judges and the personal tombs of very many saints, these tombs are described in alphabetical order.

1- "Akbilek Tomb": It is at the foot of "Karaman Dağı," above the vineyards, at the edge of a field; there His Excellency "Molla Bahşî Halîfe" is buried. He was one of the famous scholars, a Halvetî pir and a commentator of the Qur'an. It is a place of visitation for scholars.

2- "Alagöz Baba Tomb": It is a very old tomb at the edge of the "Şamlar Cemetery," at the mouth of the road. This tomb is attributed to "İsmâ'îl Gâzi Bey," one of the Danishmendid maliks; its form and manner of construction show that it is among the works of the sixth century of the hijra. Because "eş-Şeyh Şemseddîn Ahmed Baba," well known and famous as "Alagöz," was buried there in 807 [1404-05], it was called "Alagöz Baba Tomb." That the said malik "İsmâ'îl Gâzi" is buried in this tomb is supported by no evidence or written work such as an inscription other than the traditions relayed.

3- "Ebû İshak Çelebi Tomb": It is reported to be in an open garden along the row of the Kılıçarslan, that is, the Torumtay Tomb. Of the two graves seen there, one is "Kutlu Paşa," the other his son "Ebû İshak Çelebi." Its waqf deed was arranged by "Ebû İshak Çelebi," and a waqf was made for the reading of Qur'an juz volumes. These are among the emirs. There are readers of juz.

4- "İskender Memi Çelebi Tomb": In a corner of the cemetery opposite the "Üçler Tomb" there is a small masonry tomb, in which "Muhyiddîn Mehmed Çelebi," famous as "Kutlu Beyzâde Memi Çelebi," and his son "İskender Çelebi" are buried. The one who built the tomb and arranged its waqf deed is "İskender Çelebi." These too are among the emirs.

5- "Efrûmiye Bânû Tomb": It is on top of a hill above the "Gökmedrese Mosque." Its top is an earth roof, and it is surrounded by a mud-brick wall. That "Efrûmiye Bânû," daughter of "Jutatyus," the last governor of the Byzantine empire in Amasya, and wife of the conqueror of Amasya "İltekin Gâzi," is buried in it is among the local traditions. It has been seen in sharia documents that its waqfs and juz readers were tied by her son "Emîr Hüsâmü'd-Devle Hasan Gâzi." In the Târîh-i Âl-i Dânişmend the campaigns and stories of this mujahid woman are told.

6- "Emîr İmâm Tomb": It is north of the library opposite the school of "Sultân Bâyezîd," in a garden. In it are buried the library's owner "Hocazâde Emîr İmâm Abdullatîf Efendi," his children "es-Seyyid Sa'dullâh Efendi," "es-Seyyid Halîl Efendi" and "es-Seyyid Ebûbekir Efendi," and the vizier "Besîm Paşa," former governor of "Kurdistan."

7- "Anbarlı Evliyâ Tomb": It is inside a house in the "Şeyh Kırık Quarter." The place called the tomb is immediately adjoining the door, inside a hollow in the form of a storehouse (ambar) with a flat top. This tomb is in a condition as if wholly lost under the ground; unless one goes down into the hollow it can never be understood that there is a tomb there. The hollow is entered by a small wooden ladder. The tomb's door is small; it cannot be entered without stooping. On entering one sees a small, four-cornered masonry room whose door is in the form of a Bektashi cap.

In the middle of the room a very old plank, covered with an old green cover, is laid; on this plank it is seen that human bones have been spread piece by piece. Among these bones not a single unbroken bone is found. The arm, leg and wrist bones give the appearance of having been cut with a sharp cutting instrument. Even the owner of the house does not know to whom these bones belong, that is, who the person buried in this tomb is.

This hidden state of the tomb and this broken condition of the bones bring to mind that it is the tomb of the famous false prophet "Baba İshak Kefersûdî," who claimed prophethood in Amasya in 637 [1239-40].

As will be told in detail in the First Part, when the said "Baba İshak Kefersûdî" rebelled with the claim of prophethood and took the sanjaks of Amasya, Tokat and Sivas, "Mübârizeddîn Armağan Şâh" opposed him and besieged him in Amasya. The said emir seized him in his cell in which he had withdrawn into seclusion, hanged him and put him to death, kept his body at the gallows facing the sun until it rotted, then took it down and had it cut to pieces; the partisans of the Baba collected his bones by night and hid them; this is written in the histories. If this event and the state and condition of the tomb are considered together with the bones of the person buried there, it is not possible not to arrive at the idea that this tomb was deliberately made underground by the Baba's partisans, who buried the Baba's bones here to visit them and hid them from the people.

It cannot be claimed that the tomb was formerly made above ground and later buried underground as Amasya's ground filled up. For the "Halifet Gâzi Tomb" made in 622 [1225] and the "Torumtay Tomb" made in 677 [1278-79], located in that neighborhood, stand very high. Above them, the "Hânkâh-ı Mes'ûdî," thought to have been built around 540 [1145-46], though in ruin, still has its foundation wall seen above ground.

It also cannot be claimed that the visiting of that tomb by the distinguished and the people up to now and its having a dome show that the person buried inside is a saint and righteous man and not the famous false prophet. For there was no necessity requiring the tomb to be made so very hidden under the ground, and not every owner of a dome can be a saint. Persons with wealth and means have had magnificent tombs built to keep their names alive in the world. Since the life stories of those later buried in them have been forgotten, the tombs are visited by the distinguished and the people with husn-i zan (thinking well of them) as the Islamic sharia commands. The Arabic saying meaning "Many a grave is visited while its owner is in the fire" expresses this.

8- "Üçler Tomb": It is in the Üçler Quarter, opposite the Îsâ Efendi Lodge on the west side of the Sa'dî Çelebi Mosque. It is inside a house. There "Niğdelizâde Sofî Bâyezîd Çelebi," his uncle "Feyzullâh Çelebi," "Ya'kûb Çelebi" and "Îrân Hâtun daughter of Ali Bey" are buried. Their life stories and inscriptions will be told in the second part.

9- "Oruç Bey Tomb": It is in the hazîre (courtyard cemetery) of the Hızır Paşa Mosque. He is the son of Kâsım Bey, son-in-law of the said pasha; since he died before him, he sorrowfully had a tomb built in 870 [1465-66] and made a waqf for the reading of juz.

10- "Ehlî Hâtun Tomb": It is behind the madrasa at the head of the Meydan Köprüsü, in front of the lodge. The said lady is the righteous daughter of the emir of Amasya "Şâdgeldi Paşazâde Devâtdâr Ahmed Paşa." In 871 [1466-67] she had the tomb and its annexes built and arranged their waqfs. Since the room enclosing the tomb has collapsed, her grave has been left in the open. Although there is no inscription, her tomb is mentioned in her waqf deed. It is a famous place of visitation for women.

11- "İbek Baba Tomb": It is in the garden of a house in the Şeyh Kırık Quarter, near the ruin of the Hânkâh-ı Mes'ûdî. There "Sadreddîn İbek et-Türkmânî," who had influence and standing in the time of the Tatar rulers Abaka and Arghun Khan, caused Pervâne Bey's execution and served the spread of the Babaî order, and his halife "Ahmed Baba" are buried.

12- "Eğerli Evliyâ Tomb": It is in the small cemetery east of the "Yörgüç Paşa Imaret," in the middle of its east side, between two largish "doğum" trees. There a square-shaped stone, specially made in the shape of a saddle (eğer), is seen. Who is buried beneath this stone could not be understood. But it is thought that a stone was placed there to recall a story seen in the el-Aylemü'z-Zâhir. In the el-Aylem "Mustafa Cinânî (Cenâbî) Efendi" says: "'Ebû Firâs el-Hâris,' cousin of the ruler of Aleppo 'Seyfü'd-Devle,' won fame in the said ruler's service by repeatedly charging and attacking the 'Amasya Fortress'; in one of his attacks, surrounded and pressed by the Rum on a high place of the 'Upper Fortress' and on the point of being taken captive, he threw himself, mounted on his horse, together with his horse toward the river; his horse fell on the river bank and died, and he himself was saved with the help of God Almighty." God knows best.

13- "İğnecizâde Tomb": It is a tomb of its own in front of the Kocacık Quarter, in the bazaar. There His Excellency "İğnecizâde eş-Şeyh Safiyyeddîn Mahmûd Halvetî," one of the halifes of "Şeyh Zekeriyyâ-yı Halvetî," is buried. The building in which the tomb stands was formerly a court and had been endowed for the residence of the judges of Amasya; its annual rent income had also been set aside for this tomb. For this house had been endowed to the tomb by "Ayşe Hâtun," granddaughter of the said sheikh, and assigned to the judges and the court.

Since in the fire of 1311 [1893-94] a significant part of the old registers burned together with the tomb and house, the Amasya education commission (maarif komisyonu) unjustly seized that great valuable plot and, building income-yielding buildings in its place, did not leave even a single shop for the tomb. But if what happened to the head and members of this commission is examined, it is clearly seen that seizing waqf property has a counterpart in this world.

14- "İltekin Tomb": It is above the İltekin Vineyards, at the foot of the mountain. It is a conical stone dome on four stone columns. In it are buried "Nâsıru'd-Devle İltekin el-Artukî," one of the Danishmendid viziers, and his son "Emîr Hüsâmü'd-Devle Hasan Gâzi"; it used to be visited every year at the beginning of the month of Shaban by a great crowd.

15- "İnekler Tomb" (Tomb of the Cows): It is in front of the "Mehmed Paşa Imaret," on the road, adjoining the "Dugrâkiye Madrasa." It is a long stone tomb toward the west, with an exceedingly strong foundation and sides, closed on top by a masonry dome in the form of a fish's back. In it are buried "Nûreddîn Tugrak," governor of Amasya, one of the Seljuk emirs, his son "Şemseddîn İnâc," his grandson "İzzeddîn Balabân" and his other grandchildren. While recorded and known as the "İnâc Tomb," who "İnâc Bey" and his children buried there were has been forgotten; and its being near "Selâmet Hâtun" has also been the reason for the invention of the known strange story, these were counted as "Selâmet Hâtun's cows," and the tomb became famous as the "İnekler Tomb."

The strange story circulating in popular speech is this: "Supposedly, when the Flood broke out through the curse of Noah, peace be upon him, a woman who had believed in the said prophet and knew nothing of the flood, on a day when it was not raining, saw her cows come with their feet and knees wet and was astonished and asked the reason; when she learned that the flood had broken out, she gave praise and thanks that her cows had not perished and that she herself had remained in safety (selâmet); for this reason she was called 'Selâmet Hâtun,' and near her own tomb a tomb was made for her blessed cows, and this tomb became famous by the name 'İnekler Tomb.'"

It is evident that this strange story is false; one cannot help being astonished that certain simple-hearted people believe it. Although this "İnâc Bey" is a man of the seventh century of the hijra and "Selâmet Hâtun" a woman of the ninth, nothing is as ridiculous as counting "İnâc" and his children as cows and accepting "Selâmet Hâtun" as someone left over from the time of Noah, peace be upon him. If one looks at their life stories written in the second part, the worth of this story will be understood.

16- "Bektaş Baba Tomb": It is northwest of the Aşağı Pîrler, adjoining the Tekke Madrasa, a room of its own with a masonry dome. In it "Bektaş Baba of Kırşehir," of the Bektashis, is buried; at his head is a plaque "el-Hâc Bektaş Baba-yı Velî." Since he visited the pîr's threshold (the dervish lodge at Hacıbektaş), he was called "Hacı." A tomb was first built by the Alevi community living in the villages of Amasya in 1284 [1867-68], and it was repaired in 1314 [1896-97], again by the Alevis in the villages. It is a place of visitation of the Alevis.

17- "Pervâneler Tomb": It is at the very end of the east side of the "Pervâne Bey Mosque"; its top is protected by a wooden screen and its sides by a railing. It is certain that there are buried the mosque's builder, the Seljuk vizier "Necmeddîn Ferruh," its endower "İzzeddîn Mehmed Pervâne Bey," and his sons "Nâsıreddîn Ahmed Pervâne Bey" and "Alâ'eddîn Ali Pervâne Bey," while it is doubtful that "Mu'îneddîn Süleyman Pervâne Bey" is buried there.

18- "Pîr İlyâs Tomb": It is a magnificent and lofty tomb on a small hill at the head of the cemetery west of the Beyler Sarayı. It was first built as a room by "Gümüşlüzâde Ahmed Paşa"; in 890 [1485] it was rebuilt in masonry by Sultan Bâyezîd Hân II, with a large dome in the middle and two small domes on the sides; its west side was set aside for men and its east side for women as a mescit, and its middle as the tomb. Two villages in Merzifon were endowed to this tomb and its trusteeship was given to the children of His Excellency "Pîr Hayreddîn Hızır el-Halvetî," a grandson of the said person.

Notes and Research

Old Words in the Text

• dârü'ş-şifâ / bîmârhâne: hospital; both a medical school and a place of treatment
• enfâs-ı mübâreke: blessed breath, reciting and blowing
• mecânîn: the insane, mentally ill
• puthâne: idol temple
• mahkûkât: writings carved in stone, inscriptions
• kurûn-ı ûlâ: the first ages
• câbî: the collector who gathered waqf revenues
• zencîrci: the attendant who looked after the mentally ill chained in the darüşşifa
• dârü'z-ziyâfe: a place where food is given to travelers and guests
• mahdûd: bounded, surrounded
• meşrût: stipulated, bound
• tevliyet: the duty of administering a waqf, trusteeship
• müselles cezîre: a triangular island
• mahdûm / hafîd / ahfâd: son / grandson / grandchildren
• meczûb: a person carried away by love of God
• bârân-ı şedîd: violent rain
• utekâ: freed slaves
• cüzhân: a person who reads a Qur'an juz in return for a waqf
• savma'a: the cell in which one withdraws into seclusion
• salben i'dâm: execution by hanging
• hüsn-i zan: thinking well, with good intention
• hazîre: the small cemetery in a mosque courtyard
• harîk: fire
• mevkûfât: endowed properties
• mahrûtî: cone-shaped

The Darüşşifa and Its Physicians

Hüsameddin's citing the inscription as evidence against the writers who claimed that the darüşşifa was converted from a puthane or built by Mu'îneddîn Süleyman Pervâne is wholly confirmed by present knowledge. According to the Arabic inscription running in a single line around the niche of the crown portal on three sides, the building was built in 708 [1308-09] by Anber b. Abdullah, slave of İlduş (Yıldız) Hatun, wife of the Ilkhanid ruler Olcaytu Khan, and by the emir of Anatolia Ahmed Bey. Although it is known that its waqf deed was drawn up in 712 [1312], its text has not survived to our day, and its architect is not known. This date falls some thirty years after Pervâne's death; Mustafa Vâzıh Efendi's attribution is therefore chronologically impossible too. The building, arranged on a madrasa plan with two iwans around a rectangular courtyard, is the only work to have survived to our day from the Ilkhanid period in Amasya; the relief of a kneeling human figure on the door keystone is also mentioned as a detail peculiar to this building alone.

The popular name "bimarhane" arose here only from the thought that mentally ill people alone were kept there; yet the building functioned for a long time as a hospital in the broad sense. The list of staff Hüsameddin gives (physician, students, apothecary, launderer, cook and chainers) is the trace in the waqf records of this many-sided service. The "Reşîdeddîn Lokmân Harezmî" named first in the text must be the "Khwarazmian Physician Lokman" who appears in the teaching chain of Sabuncuoğlu Şerefeddin, the famous surgeon of the time of Mehmed the Conqueror: Sabuncuoğlu's teacher in medicine was Hekim Burhaneddin Ahmed, and his teacher was Lokman of Khwarazm. It is known that Sabuncuoğlu served fourteen years as chief physician in this darüşşifa and wrote with this accumulated experience the Cerrâhiyyetü'l-Hâniyye, regarded as the first illustrated surgical book in Turkish. That Hüsameddin does not mention this famous physician here is noteworthy.

Şeyh Sâlih el-Halvetî, whose tomb is in the darüşşifa, is also called today Salih Baba, and his grave is in the last room on the east side of the building. According to Kadir Özköse's study of the Halvetî lodges, Salih Efendi is among the most famous sheikhs of the Şamlar Lodge that Hoca el-Hâc Sâlih Çelebi had built in 951 [1544] in the Şamlar Quarter; he is known for having healed very many mentally ill people. This record agrees with Hüsameddin's title "Sheikh of the Şamlar." A sheikh's being buried inside the hospital suggests that the darüşşifa was seen not only as a place of medical but also of spiritual healing.

The building that Hüsameddin sorrowfully records as "now it has become a depot for timber merchants" has today been repaired, its surroundings laid out as green space, and it is open to visitors as the Sabuncuoğlu Museum of the History of Medicine and Surgery. In the museum there are surgical instruments made from the drawings in Sabuncuoğlu's book and a hall set aside for treatment by music. In official descriptions the building is mentioned as "the first hospital in Anatolia where treatment by music was practiced"; however, no original record documenting this judgment was found in the sources we examined. That the quarter in which the darüşşifa stands bears the name Yâkutiye today may be related to the lodge of Yâkût Paşa dated 816 that Hüsameddin mentions; this link remains a possibility.

The Yakub Paşa Lodge, Today the Çilehane Mosque

The building Hüsameddin calls the "Ya'kûb Paşa Complex" is the Yakub Paşa Lodge, open for worship today under the name Çilehane Mosque in the Mehmetpaşa Quarter, opposite the Pirler Park. Its builder is Pazarlıoğlu Yakub Paşa, Beylerbeyi of Ankara, one of the emirs of Çelebi Mehmed. Its waqf deed was registered in the month of Zilkade of the year 815 [February 1413] by the judge of Amasya, Mevlânâ Rükneddin Mahmud, nicknamed "Sarı Kadı"; Hüsameddin's judgment "it is certain that it was completed in 815" agrees with this document. That the trusteeship was given to Şemseddin Mehmed Buhârî and his children also appears exactly in present research.

The sources differ on for whom the lodge was built. Hüsameddin, relying on the waqf deed, points to Pîr Celâleddîn Abdurrahmân Çelebi, halife of Pîr İlyâs. M. Baha Tanman, however, writes that the building was built for the Mufti Gümüşlüzâde Abdurrahman Çelebi and gives his date of death as 903 [1497-98]. Yet it is hardly plausible that a sheikh for whom a lodge was founded in 1412 died eighty-five years later. That Özköse, in another place in the same study, gives Abdurrahman Çelebi's death as 827 [1424] agrees better with the information Hüsameddin gives. Here it is probable that, because of the similarity of names, two different Abdurrahmans were confused. The chain of sheikhs of the lodge was called "silsiletü'z-zeheb" (the golden chain) among the people of Amasya, and leading names of Amasya Halvetîism such as Pîr Celâleddin Abdurrahman, İğnecizâde Safiyyüddin Mahmud and Kubalı Çelebizâde are in this chain. It is also recorded that for this reason the lodge was called a "dervish factory."

With the arrangement Hüsameddin mentions briefly as "the çilehane on its two sides," the building has a special place in Turkish architectural history. On the two sides of the domed mescit in the middle are lined twelve small units connected to one another by narrow passages: six windowless units opening to the mescit are halvethane, that is, cells of austerity; the six windowed units adjoining the outer wall are dervish cells. This solution, which architecturally ties retreat (halvet) and prayer together, was not repeated in other Halvetî lodges in the following centuries. The wrought-iron door of the tomb, signed "amel-i Ramazan el-Kastamonî," is among the rare examples of early Ottoman metalwork. In 1031 [1622], to resolve a dispute over the sheikhship, the mescit and halvethanes were converted into a madrasa, and the lodge function was continued only in the tevhidhane and one room. The building, heavily damaged in the Erzincan earthquake of 1939, was repaired by the Directorate of Foundations in 1964 according to some sources and in 1967 according to others.

The two lodges Hüsameddin mentions as neighbors can also be traced in other sources. The Çevikçe Lodge was built in 831 [1428] by Şemseddin Mehmed Kırtâsî; the nisba "kırtâsî" means paper-maker, and it is indeed recorded that he was skilled in making fine paper. The Kuşbaz Lodge was founded in 961 [1554] by Yakub Efendi, one of the Halvetî sheikhs, and after it fell its waqfs passed in 1897 to the Ministry of Education (Maarif). It is understood that in the years when Hüsameddin wrote his book this lodge was by then known only by its name.

Karasenir and Kayabaşı

The two outer quarters Hüsameddin counts as part of the city still exist today. According to the finding of Selim Özcan, who compared the Amasya population register of 1840 with the temettuat registers of 1844-45, Kayabaşı was written as a village in the population census and recorded as a quarter in the temettuat censuses; Karasenir too appears among the city's settlements in the same censuses. This dual situation supports with a document Hüsameddin's description "has the appearance of a flourishing village and is counted part of the city." Today Karasenir is registered as a quarter attached to the central district of Amasya, and Kayabaşı as a village. The explanation that the names come from the farms of emirs named Kara Sungur and Kayabay belongs to Hüsameddin; no document confirming or refuting it was found.

The Çakallar Stream and the Sinan Paşa Hamamı

Selağzı took this name because it is the place where the Çakallar Stream empties into the river, and it covers the area around the Sinan Paşa Hamamı and the Gümüşlü Mosque. That the bathhouse, for which Hüsameddin gives the date 917, was built in 1511 by Sinan Paşa, Beylerbeyi of Sivas, is also accepted in present research; the two dates match. On the stone the flood of 1271 left on the bathhouse's dome and on the tunnel made in 1325, no record other than Hüsameddin was found.

Notes on the Tombs

Akbilek and Molla Bahşî. Molla Bahşî Halife, known as Akbilek, was born in the village of Kızılca in Amasya, took lessons in the Hejaz from the great scholars of the age such as Suyûtî, Zakariyya al-Ansari and Sakhawi, and, returning to Amasya, taught here for nearly forty years. It is recorded that he was the Qur'anic exegesis and hadith teacher of İbn Kemal, one of the greatest scholars of the Ottomans. He died in 930 [1524]. Hüsameddin's description "one of the famous scholars, a Halvetî pir and commentator" agrees exactly with this information.

The Anbarlı Evliya and the Babaî Revolt. The most noteworthy part of this section is Hüsameddin's inference linking the underground bones to Baba İshak. But the historical judgment on which this inference rests has changed today. For a long time Baba İshak was known as the leader of the revolt, and his sheikh Baba İlyâs-ı Horasânî was thought to be outside the event. Ahmet Yaşar Ocak's research, comparing İbn Bîbî's contradictory statements with Elvan Çelebi's Menâkıbü'l-kudsiyye, has shown that the one who planned the revolt was Baba İlyas and the one who led it in the field was his halife Baba İshak. According to this, the one who took refuge in the Amasya Fortress in 637 [1240] and was seized and executed by Mübârizüddin Armağanşah was Baba İlyas. Baba İshak, on the other hand, reached Amasya to rescue his sheikh, defeated Armağanşah, and then, marching on Konya, was defeated and killed by the Seljuk army on the Malya plain near Kırşehir. The story Hüsameddin tells of hanging, being kept at the gallows and the secret gathering of the bones, if it carries any share of reality, may therefore belong not to Baba İshak but to Baba İlyas. It is also known that Baba İlyas settled in the village of Çat near Amasya, today's İlyas village, and opened a lodge. Nevertheless there is no document showing a connection of the bones in the Anbarlı Evliya to this movement; Hüsameddin's view remains a conjecture. Moreover, Hüsameddin's presenting Baba İshak in the second volume of the book as a convert Greek from the Komnenos dynasty of Trebizond is assessed by Ocak as a claim "that cannot be supported by any evidence or source."

The Halifet Gazi and Torumtay tombs. The dates Hüsameddin gives to prove that the tomb was not buried underground largely agree with present knowledge. The madrasa waqf deed of Halifet Gazi is dated 622 [1225]; he himself fell a martyr in 1232 on campaign against the Georgians and was buried in his tomb in Amasya. The Torumtay Tomb is accepted to have been built in 1278, after the death of Seyfeddin Torumtay, governor of Amasya; this corresponds to the date 677.

Ehlî Hatun. The tomb Hüsameddin calls "a famous place of visitation for women" is today in the Kurşunlu Quarter and is also called among the people Dilek Hatun or Kuyulu Evliya. The record that it was completed in 1467 agrees with the date 871 in the text. According to Necdet Kurt's compilation, the tomb is visited especially on Fridays by women; girls unable to marry and those who want children perform two rak'as of prayer and, after praying, put their heads into the well in the garden, and believe that if they see light in the well their wishes will be accepted. That the same custom of visitation lives on after more than a hundred years increases the value of Hüsameddin's observation.

The Eğerli Evliya and Ebû Firâs. The story of leaping into the river on horseback that Hüsameddin relays from Cenâbî must be approached with care. The Hamdanid poet and emir Ebû Firâs was taken captive by the Byzantines near Manbij in 351 [962], was taken first to the fortress of Harşana on the Euphrates bank near Malatya and from there to Istanbul, and remained there until the prisoner exchange of 355 [966]. It is also said that he was captured in 348 [959] and escaped; but Ebû Firâs's never mentioning this, though he told every event that befell him in poetry, weakens this account. The motif in the story of "escaping by jumping from the fortress into the river" resembles this second account. The similarity of names between the Harşana where Ebû Firâs was held and Harşena Mountain, on which the Amasya fortress stands, may have played a part in the story's being tied to Amasya; this is our own conjecture. No record confirming that Ebû Firâs repeatedly attacked the Amasya Fortress was found.

The İnekler Tomb and Selâmet Hatun. The legend Hüsameddin refutes in a rational manner still lives today. In local records on the Selâmet Hatun Tomb in the Pirinççi Quarter, it continues to be told that she survived Noah's flood together with her cows and was buried with her cow in the tomb; the tomb is kept open by the voluntary care of the quarter's women. The same records present Selâmet Hatun as the daughter of Nizameddin Abdurrahman Çelebi, judge of Amasya, and report that she had the Yâ Vedûd Lodge, a Naqshbandi lodge, built in 1453. This date agrees with Hüsameddin's placing her in the ninth century of the hijra.

The Pervâneler Tomb. The building Hüsameddin calls the "Pervâne Bey Mosque" is today's Burmalı Minare Mosque. According to its inscription it was built in the time of Gıyâseddin Keyhusrev II (1237-1246) by the emir Ferruh b. Selçuk and his brother the treasurer Yusuf; in some studies the date is given as 640 [1242]. The information that Ferruh Bey's son-in-law İzzeddin Mehmed Pervâne drew up a waqf deed in 699 [1299-1300] is also confirmed by the document in the Foundations archive. Semavi Eyice thinks that the Seljuk tomb with an octagonal body adjoining the entrance facade of the mosque must belong not, as Hüsameddin suggests elsewhere, to the Mongol bey Cümûdâr but to the founders of the mosque. The relation between this tomb and the graves of the Pervânes that Hüsameddin describes here, at the east end of the mosque, protected by a wooden screen, is not clear.

The Pîr İlyâs Tomb. For the building today in the Pirler Park and also known as the Yukarı Pirler Türbesi, official descriptions give the date 1486 and give Gümüşlüzâde Ahmed Bey as its builder. The date 890 [1485] Hüsameddin gives is very close to this; but he says that Gümüşlüzâde had only the first room built and that the masonry building was built by Bayezid II. In the tomb, besides Pîr İlyâs, lie his son-in-law Pîr Celâleddin Abdurrahman, his grandson Pîr Hayreddin Hızır Çelebi and their families. The building was renewed in 1688 by Gümüşlüzâde İbrahim Paşa, destroyed in the earthquake of 1895, and rebuilt in the time of Abdülhamid II. The three-domed arrangement Hüsameddin describes, that is, the tomb in the middle and on the two sides mescits set aside for women and men, is the product of this last rebuilding; the western section is still used today as a mescit with its mihrab.

İbek Baba. In later volumes of the book Hüsameddin tells separately of this sheikh under the name "İbik Baba (eş-Şeyh İzzeddin Ebü'l-Meâlî)": he writes that he was one of the halifes of Baba İlyas, came to the sheikhship of the Mesudiye Hankah, had a share, through his closeness to the Mongol court, in the execution of Mu'îneddîn Süleyman Pervâne in 676 [1277], and died in 688 [1289] and was buried in the lodge's garden. The name "Sadreddîn İbek" given here differs from the name in the later biography. Apart from Hüsameddin's own narrative, no independent source on this sheikh was found.

That İğnecizâde Safiyyüddin Mahmud was in the "golden chain" of the Yakub Paşa Lodge and died in 893 [1487-88] also appears in other sources. On the tombs of Bektaş Baba, Alagöz Baba, Üçler, Oruç Bey, Efrûmiye Bânû and İltekin, no reliable record confirming or correcting the information Hüsameddin gives was found in the sources we examined.

Bibliography

Primary sources

• Abdîzâde Hüseyin Hüsâmeddîn Yasar, Amasya Tarihi, Amasya Belediyesi Kültür Yayınları, 2022, vol. 1, p. 132–136. amasya.bel.tr
• Necdet Kurt, "Amasya ve Tokat Çevrelerinde Türbe ve Yatır İnanç Pratiği Örnekleri ile Velilere (Evliyalara) Bıçak Koyma İnancı", Kültür Evreni, no. 47 (2022), p. 103 ff. https://isamveri.org/pdfdrg/D03503/2022_47/2022_47_KURTN.pdf

Academic studies

• Gönül Cantay, "Amasya Dârüşşifâsı", TDV İslâm Ansiklopedisi, vol. 3, İstanbul 1991, p. 5-6. https://islamansiklopedisi.org.tr/amasya-darussifasi
• Haldun Eroğlu, "XV. Yüzyıl Tabiblerinden Şerafettin Sabuncuoğlu ve Amasya Darüşşifası", DergiPark. https://dergipark.org.tr/en/download/article-file/114209
• M. Baha Tanman, "Yakub Paşa Tekkesi", TDV İslâm Ansiklopedisi, vol. 43, İstanbul 2013, p. 285-286. https://islamansiklopedisi.org.tr/yakub-pasa-tekkesi
• Kadir Özköse, "Amasya'da Bulunan Halvetiyye Tekkeleri", Akademiar Dergisi, no. 5, Ankara 2018, p. 91-118. https://dergipark.org.tr/tr/download/article-file/606666
• Selim Özcan, "H.1256 (1840) Tarihli Amasya Nüfus Defteri ile H.1260-1261 (1844-1845) Tarihli Amasya Temettuat Defterlerinin Karşılaştırmalı Değerlendirilmesi", Studies of the Ottoman Domain, 6/11 (2016). https://dergipark.org.tr/tr/download/article-file/268330
• Selim Özcan, "Amasya'da Sancak Beyliği Yapan Şehzadeler Döneminde Amasya Şehri", Amasya Üniversitesi İlahiyat Fakültesi Dergisi, no. 5. https://dergipark.org.tr/tr/download/article-file/19685
• Ahmet Yaşar Ocak, "Baba İshak", TDV İslâm Ansiklopedisi. https://islamansiklopedisi.org.tr/baba-ishak
• Ahmet Yaşar Ocak, "Baba İlyâs-ı Horasânî", TDV İslâm Ansiklopedisi. https://islamansiklopedisi.org.tr/baba-ilyas
• Aynur Durukan, "Hilfet Gazi Medresesi ve Türbesi", TDV İslâm Ansiklopedisi, vol. 18, İstanbul 1998, p. 30-31. https://islamansiklopedisi.org.tr/hilfet-gazi-medresesi-ve-turbesi
• "Ebû Firâs el-Hamdânî", TDV İslâm Ansiklopedisi. https://islamansiklopedisi.org.tr/ebu-firas-el-hamdani
• Semavi Eyice, "Burmalı Minare Camii ve Türbesi", TDV İslâm Ansiklopedisi. https://islamansiklopedisi.org.tr/burmali-minare-camii-ve-turbesi
• "İzzeddin Mehmet Pervâne Bey (ö. 1300) ve Amasya Burmalı Minare Camii Vakfı", Selçuk Üniversitesi Selçuklu Araştırmaları Dergisi. https://dergipark.org.tr/tr/pub/usad/issue/59251/861837
• Metin Hakverdioğlu, "Hüseyin Hüsameddin Yasar'ın Amasya Tarihi'nde Elvan Çelebi ve Soyu", Uluslararası Horasan'dan Anadolu'ya İrfan Geleneği: Elvan Çelebi Sempozyumu, 2020. https://molekuleredebiyat.com/?p=740

Official sources

• T.C. Kültür ve Turizm Bakanlığı, Amasya İl Kültür ve Turizm Müdürlüğü, "Sabuncuoğlu Tıp ve Cerrahi Tarihi Müzesi". https://amasya.ktb.gov.tr/TR-59522/sabuncuoglu-tip-ve-cerrahi-tarihi-muzesi.html
• T.C. Kültür ve Turizm Bakanlığı, Kültür Portalı, "Çilehane Camii". https://www.kulturportali.gov.tr/turkiye/amasya/gezilecekyer/clehane-cam
• T.C. Kültür ve Turizm Bakanlığı, Kültür Portalı, "Pir Sücaeddin İlyas Türbesi". https://www.kulturportali.gov.tr/turkiye/amasya/gezilecekyer/pr-sucaedn--lyas-turbes

Books

• "Çilehane Camii, Amasya", Kültür Envanteri. https://kulturenvanteri.com/en/yer/cilehane-camii-amasya/

Other sources

• "Amasya", Vikipedi (list of villages of the central district). https://tr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amasya
• "Merkez Mahalleleri Nüfusu, Amasya". https://www.nufusu.com/merkez-amasya-mahalleleri-nufusu
• "Torumtay Türbesi", Vikipedi. https://tr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Torumtay_Türbesi
• "Ehli Hatun Türbesi" and "Selamet Hatun Türbesi", Sosyo Denemeler, 2013 (based on the records of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism). http://sosyodenemeler.blogspot.com/2013/11/ehli-hatun-turbesi-amasya-merkez.html ; http://sosyodenemeler.blogspot.com/2013/11/selamet-hatun-turbesi-amasya-merkez.html